Cassine
Church and Convent of San Francesco
Cassine reveals its millennial heritage through the exquisite frescoes, preserved with care in the church and Franciscan convent. These paintings testify to the artistic refinement of Lombardy-Po Valley culture and narrate the centuries-old religious presence of Franciscan Fathers and local aristocratic patrons, some of whom had ties to the Milanese court.
In the Alessandria countryside, Cassine is mentioned as early as 996, when the emperor granted the Church of Acqui jurisdiction over the site. During the Middle Ages, Cassine became a vital commercial center and an important border crossing in the region, playing a prominent role in the history of Alto Monferrato from the 12th century onward. Its political destiny was intertwined with that of Alessandria from 1177, during the alternating rule of the Marquisate of Monferrato and the Lordship of Milan, until 1708, when it came under the control of the Savoy. Even today, Cassine’s historic center retains its medieval appearance, with a concentric layout centered around a square housing the town hall and several secular oratories, as well as the Franciscan complex. Among the oldest religious settlements are the church of Sant’Andrea, documented in the early decades of the 11th century when it was donated to the monastery of San Pietro in Acqui Terme, and the parish church of Santa Maria, mentioned in 1175. Both were located on the road leading to Pavia, but were later moved to the hill for defensive reasons and to control the communication routes between Acqui and Alessandria along the Bormida River.
The Church and Convent of San Francesco
The church and adjoining convent of San Francesco stand in the northern part of the medieval urban settlement, on the site of the ancient church of San Michele de Castro (which has been lost, except for a documentary reference to its existence in 1291). The Franciscan presence is attested in the second or third decade of the 13th century, specifically through a will dated 1232, in which a certain Enrico Canefro, upon his death, donated his possessions to the Franciscan church of Cassine. It is likely that the friars moved to the convent site from a previous religious institution, perhaps the now-destroyed parish church of Santa Maria, located on the opposite side of the town.
The new religious complex was the spiritual and civic hub of Cassine for over five centuries, until 1802, when Napoleonic suppression forced the Friars Minor to evacuate. However, starting in 1858, it became municipal property and regained its role as the center of the city, taking on various functions over time. In the 1940s, for example, it was used as an open-air cinema for the community, but above all as the seat of the city’s schools.
The church has a basilica plan with three naves and is characterized by meticulous workmanship of the construction materials (three terracotta segments alternating with one stone segment), very similar to the nearby Franciscan convent in Alessandria, where similarities can also be found in the pictorial ornamentation.
The façade features a gabled front and massive buttresses that support its weight, added in 1644 after an earthquake. From the outside, an additional nave consisting of a series of chapels can be clearly seen on the right side of the church. This architectural structure, now fully communicating, is the result of an expansion carried out in the early modern period and stands alongside the original nave.
Much of the complex’s construction was completed in the early decades of the 14th century, the period during which the first phase of the painting campaign also began. In 1355, the first meeting held within the complex determined the completion of the work and, consequently, the completion of the pictorial decoration. An initial decorative program focused on the architectural design, using white and gray false segments, framed by a Cosmatesque frieze, to highlight the arches and ribs of the vaults. In the attic of the third lateral chapel on the right, there are some ancient fragments of painting, likely part of a primitive chapel, inserted into the wall facing the side nave. The fresco shows fragments of a Redeemer, two feet wearing sandals belonging to a saint, and a Cosmatesque frame similar to those found elsewhere in the church, dating to the late 13th century.
The southern side of the church houses the Zoppi chapel, built in 1426 by Quirico Gambarotta Zoppi, a member of one of Cassine’s most illustrious families, originally from Lombardy and linked to the Sforza family. The chapel is dedicated to Saint John the Baptist, and the preserved pictorial scenes narrate the life of the saint. The episodes, arranged in chronological order, begin with the Visitation in the lunette high on the right wall, continue with the Birth on the left wall, and end on the right wall with the Beheading and Burial. Each panel is accompanied by a caption in Gothic characters. These frescoes, of extraordinary descriptive elegance, were discovered and partially restored in 1957 and again in 1998. It is likely that the connection with the Milanese court directed the noble patrons to a highly skilled artist of Lombard-Po Valley culture, active in the first half of the 15th century.
The adjoining convent, which now houses the civic collection of sacred art, was also used as an elementary school. During restoration work in the 1930s, the chapter house revealed an extraordinary pictorial cycle of the highest artistic quality, hidden beneath six layers of plaster. The vast rectangular space is frescoed on three walls, while the fourth, once open to windows, has been converted into the school’s entrance. The pictorial cycle, against a blue background, begins on the left with episodes from the Childhood of Christ (Infanzia di Cristo), continues in the center with the Crucifixion, and ends on the right wall with a series of Saints. Alongside the Crucifixion scene, two pairs of Saints accompany the depiction: on the left, Saint Anthony the Abbot and an unidentified female Saint, while on the right are the heads of a Saint and Saint James. On the left wall is an Adoration of the Magi, who pay homage to the Virgin and Child Enthroned, while on the opposite wall are a (different) Virgin and Child Enthroned between Saint Anthony the Abbot and Saint Catherine of Alexandria, a Saint George on horseback, and two Saints. A decorative frieze, which dominates the scenes in the entire room, features vegetal motifs alternating with tondi (rounds) containing figures of Prophets and/or Saints, difficult to identify.
The frescoes are dated around 1335-1340, partly thanks to a study of the garments used, which reflect the style and fashion of the period.
The Master exhibits some characteristic elements of 14th-century Lombard culture, including the stylization of lines and the combination of different frieze patterns. Furthermore, he favors certain formal motifs, such as the specific lozenges in the background of the Virgin’s throne, which would be found in later paintings outside of Cassine.
Temporally and stylistically related to the chapter house is the chapel at the back of the church on the left, dedicated to Saint Michael. Here, Saint Gregory, the Madonna Enthroned, and a bishop saint are depicted on the front wall, while on the right side wall are two scenes painted on a layer of plaster subsequent to that of the Cosmatesque frame. The anonymous master of Cassine also created individual votive panels, such as the extraordinary Saint Francis on the counterfaçade and the Madonna and Child on the last pillar on the right, becoming a leading figure in the Lombard-inspired artistic movement that is deeply rooted in the Alexandrian area.
The courtly and Lombard atmosphere in Cassine
On what is now Via San Realino, the noble palace of the Zoppi family, which houses a priceless example of late medieval secular painting, stands opposite the church of San Giacomo. Some early 15th-century frescoes, originally part of the ancient chapel at the back of this church, also under the patronage of the Zoppis, were removed from inside the bell tower and are currently on display at the Royal Museums in Turin.
The church of San Giacomo features some architectural elements on its façade that indicate its construction date between the 12th and 13th centuries, although sources only record its construction from 1403. Originally built outside the town, near one of the gates, in an area developed after the 14th century, the northern façade and only parts of the salient façade, characterized by squared sandstone ashlar masonry, hanging arches, and a mullioned window (the latter partially rebuilt in the 15th century), survive from the Romanesque period. The church’s original layout included three naves, and despite 17th-century modifications, the first pillar on the left reveals a surprising fresco fragment: from the overlay of the modern painting, a delicate fresco fragment emerges, depicting the face of the Madonna with Child in her lap, enclosed in a false frame simulating a painting. Executed around the mid-15th century, it may be part of the pictorial culture of some votive panels already present in the nearby church of San Francesco. A series of pictorial panels, in fact, are found in the Franciscan church and are completed without a unitary design, referring to a widespread local production, which lasted throughout the second half of the 15th century: emblematic of this taste is the Saint Anthony the Abbot on the first pillar on the right.
